Siena Tavern co-owner Fabio Viviani lived in the area for less than six years before he scored one of Chicago's greatest honors -- having a day named for him. He joked that it also didn't take long for that recognition to go to his head.

"I was like, 'Hello, what are we waiting for?,'" Viviani told the Tribune in a recent chat at Siena Tavern in River North. "No, no. It was a big honor for me, although I thought, you know, school closed, bank closed, we shoot fireworks. Then I thought, you know what? It's not Fourth of July. It's just Fabio's day, so everybody go to school, banks are still open. There is no fireworks, but it's still a big, big, happy day for me."

The 38-year-old Italian chef probably wouldn't have time for a colossal celebration anyway. He's involved in the operation of multiple restaurants, including Prime and Provisions in the Loop and Bar Siena in the West Loop, with the DineAmic Group; his cookbook, "Fabio's 30-Minute Italian," is due out May 2; and he stars in the online series "Dinner is Served," which debuted earlier this month.

In the latter project, Viviani is shown cooking for Johnsonville Sausage members after a fire shuttered the company's plant in Watertown, Wis., in May 2015. The company continued to pay its workers as long as they volunteered or went to school while a new facility was built.

"I work with a lot of big companies, and it's hard to see somebody that really kind of cares from the social aspect of things," Viviani said. "I loved it and I jumped all over it."

Because Viviani appears in this series and his own personal weekly web series, "Fabio's Kitchen," he said he doesn't see a need to return to reality television.

Viviani rose to fame as a fan favorite on the fifth season of "Top Chef" in 2008. He appeared on "Top Chef: All-Stars" in 2010 and a subsequent "Life after Top Chef" special in 2012.

"If you break down why people do reality TV anyway, they do it because they want to get exposure or they've got nothing to do, and they're picked up for a show and that's all they do," Viviani said. "We're really busy."

For now, he's content living in South Barrington with his wife and 19-month-old son, and of course, celebrating Chef Fabio Viviani Day in Chicago on March 8. Mayor Emanuel announced the honor earlier this year to coincide with Viviani's induction into the local Chefs Hall of Fame.

"I always heard that people from outside of Chicago, it's very hard to integrate in Chicago. As a matter of fact, a lot of restaurateurs coming from out of town they kind of got not-so-great results. A lot of big names too, they tried to come to Chicago and they didn't do so well," Viviani said. "But I got, like, hugged with open arms and I'm still getting kissed."